Christina Rossetti

Dec 5, 1830 - Dec 29, 1894

 

A Bruised Reed Shall He Not Break

by Christina Rossetti

I Will accept thy will to do and be,
Thy hatred and intolerance of sin,
Thy will at least to love, that burns within
And thirsteth after Me:
So will I render fruitful, blessing still,
The germs and small beginnings in thy heart,
Because thy will cleaves to the better part. --
Alas, I cannot will.

Dost not thou will, poor soul? Yet I receive
The inner unseen longings of the soul,
I guide them turning towards Me; I control
And charm hearts till they grieve:
If thou desire, it yet shall come to pass,
Though thou but wish indeed to choose My love;
For I have power in earth and heaven above. --
I cannot wish, alas!

What, neither choose nor wish to choose? and yet
I still must strive to win thee and constrain:
For thee I hung upon the cross in pain,
How then can I forget?
If thou as yet dost neither love, nor hate,
Nor choose, nor wish, -- resign thyself, be still
Till I infuse love, hatred, longing, will. --
I do not deprecate.

Source:

Goblin Market and Other Poems
Copyright 1865
Macmillan And Co.London and Cambridge